Aptenia cordifolia

Baby sun-rose

Family: Aizoaceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

Baby sun-rose is a naturalized perennial found in the central and southern California Coast and southern Channel Islands in disturbed places and margins of coastal wetlands at elevations below 100 meters. Flowering from April to May, this plant produces vibrant purple flowers (occasionally red in cultivated varieties) with delicate petals up to 10 millimeters long. Growing with sprawling stems 30 to 60 centimeters long and widely spaced nodes, it spreads across the ground with a distinctive trailing habit. Its heart-shaped leaves are 1 to 3 centimeters long, minutely textured with tiny papillate surface features. The fruit develops to 13 to 15 millimeters long, with sepals reaching up to 20 millimeters in mature stages.

Habitat: Uncommon. Disturbed places, margins of coastal wetlands

Bloom period: Apr-May

Elevation: < 100 m

Bioregions: CCo, SCo, s ChI

California counties: Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Monterey, Orange, Ventura, Riverside, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Marin, San Luis Obispo, Yolo

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.